THE  QUESTION  OF 
ALSACE    AND    LORRAINE 


Lecture  given  at  Aeolian  Hall 

NEW   YORK 
March    14,    1917 


by 


WHITNEY   WARREN 

A.  M.  Hon.  Harvard 
-  Membre  de  L'Institut  de  France 

16  East  47th  Street 
New  York 


Price  lOc. 


Lecture  given  at  Aeolian  HaB 

NEW  YORK 
March    14,    1917 


by 


WHITNEY  WARREN 

A.  M.  Hon.  Harvard 
Membre  de  L'lnstitut  de  France 

16  East  47th  Street 
New  York 


NORTH 
SEA 


0PARI5 


n     t- 

e   Question 

A  57 

Alsace   and   Lorraine 


LADIES  AND  GENTLEMEN  : 

In  December  last  I  took  a  trip  through  Alsace,  that 
is,  through  the  strip  which  has  been  reconquered,  going 
thoroughly  through  the  country,  looking  into  every- 
thing and  talking  with  whomever  happened  to  be  on 
my  path,  my  object  being  to  gather  further  informa- 
tion on  the  Alsace-Lorraine  question,  which  will  be 
such  a  vital  one  when  the  moment  comes  to  talk  about 
possible  Peace,  and  which  has  been  so  systematically 
distorted  by  the  Germans,  that  the  outside  world  has 
at  best  but  a  confused,  or,  better  still,  a  most  contor- 
tioned  view  of  it.  For  months  I  have  been  studying 
the  subject,  but  have  always  felt  that  when  the  oppor- 
tunity presented  itself,  I  wanted  to  see  on  the  spot  all 
that  was  possible,  to  impregnate  myself  with  the 
atmosphere,  and  to  live  a  few  days  amongst  the  people, 
who,  forty-six  years  ago,  were  transferred,  against 
their  will  and  protest,  to  a  virtual  state  of  slavery,  and 
where  the  task-masters  were  the  forty-five  thousand 
functionaries  imposed  upon  them  by  the  conquerors. 

Naturally  amongst  the  Alsatians  I  saw,  there  was 
a  certain  reserve  at  first  in  expressing  their  feelings 
— they  are,  it  must  not  be  forgotten,  in  a  most  embar- 
rassing position;  the  possibility  of  the  reappearance  of 
the  Prussian  helmet  in  their  midst  gives  them  food  for 
thought,  and  the  loudly  heralded  success  of  the  Ten- 
ton  arms  in  Roumania  contributed,  undoubtedly,  to 


838969 


their  very  natural  timidity — but,  once  under  the  sur- 
face, I  found  them  all  enthusiastic  and  anxious  to  talk, 
to  show  proof  of  their  great  desire  to  be  once  again 
under  the  French  flag,  this  to  one  who  has  studied  their 
problem,  and  as  they  expressed  it,  "understands  what 
we  love,  and  for  which  we  have  suffered  so  much  for 
forty-six  years". 

My  trip  started  from  the  General  Headquarters  up 
through  the  pass  of  Bussang  and  dovrn  the  valley  of 
the  Thur  to  Wesserling.  Everywhere  on  the  trip  the 
snow  had  fallen  in  great  quantities  from  twelve  to 
thirty  inches — everywhere  the  communications  were 
in  splendid  order,  thanks  to  the  snow  ploughs  and  the 
territorial  army,  whose  great  business  is  to  see  that  the 
roads  are  always  in  first  rate  condition.  Only  in  one 
place  did  I  leave  the  automobile,  and  that  was  on  the 
top  of  the  Breifoist,  where,  in  approaching  the  second 
line,  communications  are  assured  by  outfits  of  Can- 
adian dogs  most  admirably  trained  and  handled — Fur- 
ther ahead,  because  of  the  noise  these  animals  make, — 
they  are  replaced  by  an  army  of  the  smallest  donkeys 
imaginable,  which,  alas,  while  more  discreet  occasion- 
ally betray  their  presence  to  the  enemy  by  a  most  dis- 
tressing braying  against  which  all  effort  to  smother  and 
silence  seems  hopeless.  The  snow  spectacle  everywhere 
was  marvellous  in  its  beauty.  All  through  the  moun- 
tains are  covered  with  forests  of  pine  ai*d  beech-  and 
what  wonderful  forests,  where  every  tree  is  numbered, 
curried  and  groomed  like  a  thoroughbred — the  snow 
upon  them  was  as  in  fairy  land,  so  immaculate.  Every- 
where one  runs  into  encampments  of  greater  or  less 
importance — infantry,  artillery  or  ambulance — all 
housed  very  much  after  the  fashion  of  our  lumbermen 
in  Maine  or  Michigan.  A  sort  of  architecture,  which 
is  forcibly  rustic,  and  consequently  attractive,  has  been 
born,  and  each  arm  has  its  traditional  idiosyncracies. 


The  Ambulance  burrows  deep  into  the  soil,  so  that  the 
patient  may  not  only  be  safe,  but  even  free  from  the 
sound  of  bursting  shells — the  Artillery,  accustomed  to 
the  handling  and  destruction  of  heavy  materials  is 
easily  distinguished  by  the  huge  trunks  of  trees  it 
uses  in  its  construction,  even  the  doors  being  covered 
with  iron  plates  for  greater  protection.  The  Chas- 
seur Alpin,  the  great  infantry  of  the  region,  is 
content  with  shelters  less  permanent,  but  with  corres- 
ponding advantages  as  to  space  and  ventilation,  while 
his  surroundings  and  approaches  are  of  a  research 
worthy  of  many  a  fashionable  watering  place. 
Amongst  them  all  the  greatest  contentment  reigns, 
backed  by  the  conviction  of  assured  eventual  victory; 
the  best  of  health  and  almost  a  joy,  which  may  partially 
be  attributed  to  the  beauty  of  the  surroundings  and  the 
satisfaction  of  being  entrenched  in  the  dreamed  of  lib- 
erated country.  As  one  approaches  the  front,  all  this 
order  is  occasionally  disturbed  by  the  falling  of  a  stray 
shell,  the  dismantling  of  some  majestic  king  of  the  for- 
est, and  the  shaking  down,  by  the  explosion,  of  immense 
quantities  of  snow  with  which  the  neighboring  trees  are 
cloaked.  Further  on,  at  the  absolute  front,  nothing  ex- 
ists but  the  trenches,  separated  from  the  enemy's  by 
only  a  few  yards,  and  by  the  splintered  stumps  of  the 
martyred  forest.  This  is  the  state  of  Hartmannweiler- 
kopf,  where  I  convinced  myself  of  the  fact  that  the 
French  lines  are  well  along  the  crest,  commanding  the 
German,  from  which  one  could  perceive,  here  and  there, 
little  clouds  of  smoke  issuing,  well  down  on  the  slope. 
At  Massevaux  I  was  honored  by  an  audition  of 
probably  the  most  famous  organ, — the  most  perfect  so 
the  legend  goes, — the  world  possesses,  built  in  the  early 
XIX  Century  by  a  constructor  of  the  region.  There, 
and  also  at  Thann,  well  in  range  of  the  enemies  shells, 
several  public  schools  were  visited,  and  at  my  request 
short  impromptu  examinations  held.  The  sound  of  the 


guns  close  by  in  no  way  concerned  the  pupils,  and  their 
enthusiasm  in  answering  the  questions  based  upon 
French  history  could  not  have  been  feigned.  In  the 
court  yard,  during  the  recreation,  the  little  girls  to  the 
number  of  forty  or  more  danced  merrily  around  a  hole 
made  by  an  unexploded  German  shell,  while  the  good 
Sister  stood  by,  leading  them  in  the  mimic  so  curious, 
and  the  chorus  of  "Sur  le  Pont  d 'Avignon".  Every 
youngster  has  acquired  at  least  some  part  of  the  poilu 
uniform,  be  it  an  old  pair  of  the  cast  off  red  trousers, 
a  tunic,  or  "un  bonnet  de  police".  There  is  no  doubt 
or  concealment  amongst  the  thoughtless  youth,  as  to 
their  enthusiasm  for  the  liberation — it  is  only  in  their 
elders,  bowed  down  by  years  of  servitude,  that  a  cer- 
tain reserve  may  be  imagined — but,  this,  once  inside 
their  houses,  disappears,  to  be  replaced  by  a  serious 
and  prayerful  attitude,  as  they  ask  of  the  stranger 
his  views  on  the  future,  and  express  to  him  their  hopes 
and  desires.  With  all  to  whom  I  spoke,  I  found  no  ex- 
aggeration, no  excess  of  language,  no  theatrical 
hatred.  Here  I  found  the  same  reserve  as  amongst 
the  refugees  of  Nomeny,  whom  I  interviewed  after 
their  abominable  and  horrible  treatment  by  the  enemy. 
They  seemed  to  be  concerned  with  but  one  object, 
and  that  was,  to  convince  me  that  the  whole  of  the 
population  of  Alsace,  with,  of  course,  the  excep- 
tion of  the  functionnaires  and  the  other  immigrants 
imposed  upon  them  by  Germany,  were  heart  and 
soul  French.  To  me  the  Country  has  always  seemed 
as  if  under  a  cloud  of  suppressed  suffering.  When 
younger,  and  a  student,  I  made  several  trips  through 
parts  of  Alsace  studying  in  particular  the  charming 
half-timber  work  of  its  architects,  and  many  are  the 
sketches  I  made.  The  gloom  and  depression  which  in- 
vaded me  at  that  time  I  experienced  in  a  short  trip 
made  in  later  years,  so  much  so  that  I  determined  never 


to  return  until  the  soil  was  freed  of  the  invader ;  and  so 
it  is  that  I  have  been  permitted  to  place  once  again  my 
foot  upon  the  liberated  district,  and  to  there  breathe  the 
free  air,  on  the  Eastern  slope  of  the  Vosges,  overlook- 
ing the  Promised,  if  still  unhappy,  Valley  of  the  Rhine. 
There  has  been  as  the  lifting  of  a  sort  of  pall  from  off 
this  portion  of  the  globe.  This  I  have  seen  with  my 
eyes,  and  heard  in  the  no  longer  hushed  voices  of  the 
inhabitants. 

But  a  great  number  among  us  understand  the  ques- 
tion of  Alsace  and  Lorraine,  at  best,  very  imperfectly, 
and  it  is  with  the  hope  of  clearing  up  any  doubt  that 
I  am  speaking  to-day,  and  also  because  this  question 
not  only  interests  France  and  Germany  but  it  is  of  the 
greatest  importance  to  the  entire  World.  Fix  it  weH 
in  your  mind,  that  the  pretention  raised  by  Germany 
to  these  Provinces — pretention  which  is  purely  artifi- 
cial— typifies,  since  the  robbery  by  her  of  Schleswig- 
Holstein  from  Denmark  in  1864,  the  sort  of  conquest 
which  has  possessed  Germany,  which  she  has  practiced 
ever  since,  and  which,  actually,  at  the  present  moment, 
is  a  menace  to  all  the  nations  of  the  Earth. 

It  is  what  was  prophesied  with  the  greatest  lucidity, 
by  the  Deputies  of  Alsace  and  Lorraine,  who  attempted 
on  the  17th  of  February,  1871,  at  the  National  Assem- 
bly at  Bordeaux,  during  the  discussion  concerning  the 
terms  of  Peace,  to  prevent  the  abandoning  of  these  two 
Provinces.  I  quote  from  their  protestation: 

11  Europe  cannot  permit  or  ratify  the  abandoning 
of  Alsace  and  Lorraine. 

* '  Guardians  of  the  Laws  of  Justice  and  of  the  Rights 
of  Peoples,  the  Civilized  Nations  cannot  remain  any 
longer  insensible  to  the  lot  of  their  neighbors,  without 
the  fear  of  in  their  turn  becoming  the  victims  of  the 
abuses  which  they  have  tolerated.  Modern  Europe 
cannot  allow  a  people  to  be  disposed  of  as  a  common 


herd  of  cattle ;  for  the  sake  of  her  own  safety  she  can- 
not remain  deaf  to  the  repeated  protestations  of  the 
populations  which  are  threatened.  She  must  oppose 
herself  to  such  an  iniquitous  abuse  of  Force. 

"Moreover,  she  knows  that  the  unity  of  France  is 
to-day,  as  it  has  been  in  the  past,  a  guarantee  of  the 
balance  of  power  of  the  World,  a  safeguard  against  the 
spirit  of  conquest  and  invasion. 

"Peace  made  at  the  price  of  the  cession  of  territory 
can  only  at  best  be  a  ruinous  Tmce  and  not  a  lasting 
Peace.  Such  a  Peace  will  be  for  all  a  cause  of  per- 
petual agitation,  a  legitimate  and  permanent  provo- 
cation for  War." 

But  Europe,  to  whom  these  Deputies  of  Alsace  and 
Lorraine  addressed  themselves  remained  insensible  to 
their  appeal.  She  sees  to-day  her  terrible  blunder.  IT 
IS  THE  DUTY  OF  THE  CITIZENS  OF  THE 
UNITED  STATES,  WHO  WITHOUT  BEING 
BELLIGERENTS,  ARE  STILL  MOST  PRO- 
FOUNDLY INTERESTED  IN  THE  WAR,  AND 
MAY  ONE  DAY  BE  CALLED  INTO  THE  COURT 
OF  ARBITRATION,  TO  STUDY  SERIOUSLY  A 
PROBLEM  WHICH  HAS  ALWAYS  BEEN  MORE 
OR  LESS  VAGUE  BECAUSE  OF  SO  MANY 
ERRORS,  OF  SO  MANY  PREJUDICES  AND  OF 
THE  INNUMERABLE  LIES  WITH  WHICH  THE 
GERMANS  HAVE  CONTINUALLY  SURROUND- 
ED AND  BEFOGGED  IT. 

I  am  going  to  try,  with  all  impartiality,  to  analyze 
the  problem  thoroughly,  but  I  admit  that  after  due 
reflection,  after  study  and  investigation,  my  opinion 
is  formed.  This  opinion,  in  which  I  feel  it  will  be 
impossible  for  you  not  to  participate,  when  I  have 
explained  to  you  upon  what  positive  facts  it  is  founded, 
is  that  Alsace  and  Lorraine,  by  their  past,  by  their 
race,  by  their  traditions,  by  their  thought  and  by  their 


aspirations,  are  French  Provinces,  and  that  they 
ought,  by  all  that  is  Just,  to  be  returned  to  the  Nation 
from  which  they  were  torn  by  Force  forty-six  years 
ago. 


To  begin,  if  you  will  permit  me,  we  will  examine 
the  principal  arguments  invoked  by  the  Germans 
to  justify  their  conquest:  "Alsace",  they  say, 
"is  a  country  essentially  German,  by  its  population, 
by  its  geographical  situation,  by  the  language  which 
is  spoken.  It  is  by  violence  that  she  was  torn  from 
Germany  in  the  seventeenth  century,  and  the  Treaty  of 
Frankfort  in  1871  only  gave  back  to  the  German  Fa- 
therland what  belonged  to  it."  Note  that  it  is  only  a 
question  of  Alsace.  There  is  no  question  of  Lorraine, 
because  it  would  be  too  absurd  to  attempt  to  prove  that 
this  Province  is  not  essentially  French,  and  even  the 
Germans  do  not  contest  it  and  Jeanne  d'Arc  is  ever 
with  us  to  prove  it.  There  remains  only  the  ques- 
tion of  Alsace.  For  this  Province  the  Germans 
affirm  that  there  is  no  doubt.  "It  is",  they  say,  "a 
country  belonging  to  the  Germanic  Race". 

I  acknowledge  that  in  obscure  ethnological  matters 
I  am  not  a  specialist.  From  what  I  have  personally 
observed,  I  am  indeed  no  match  for  the  erudition  of 
the  German  professor.  I  have,  therefore,  been  obliged 
to  call  to  my  aid  vast  tomes  and  there  I  find  that  Alsace 
was  Celt  before  it  was  German.  "Yes,  but  before 
being  Celt?"  would  doubtless  reply  the  professor;  how- 
ever, we  will  not  go  any  further  in  the  genealogy  than 
the  first  inhabitants,  because  where  would  one  end? 
At  the  cave  dwellers?  As  Ernest  Renan  has  remarked : 
"With  the  philosophy  of  history,  as  taught  by  the  Ger- 
man, the  only  thing  that  would  be  legal  in  the  World, 
is  the  law  practised  by  the  orang  outang,  who  was  im- 
justly  deposed  by  the  perfidy  of  civilization". 


8 

As  to  the  geographical  situation,  I  must  again  go 
back  to  the  Ancients.  Caesar  in  his  Commentaries, 
as  you  remember,  has  written:  "All  Gaul  is  divided 
into  three  parts,  one  inhabitated  by  the  Belgians,  an- 
other by  the  Aquitanians,  the  third  by  what  ve  call 
in  our  language  the  Gauls,  and  the  Celts  in  theirs  *  *  * 
The  bravest  of  all  these  peoples  are  the  Belgians,  be- 
cause there  is  nothing  between  them  and  the  Germans 
but  the  Rhine,  with  whom  they  are  incessantly  at 
war  *  The  territory  of  the  Gauls  commences 

at  the  Rhone  and  is  bounded  by  the  Garonne,  the  Ocean 
and  Belgium,  and  extends  as  far  as  the  Rhine". 
and  Tacitus  declares:  "Germany  is  separated  from 
Gaul  by  the  Rhine".  Therefore,  it  is  the  Rhine  aad  not 
flie  Vosges  Mountains,  as  is  taught  in  German  schools, 
which  formed  originally  the  frontier  between  Gaul  and 
Germany,  and  the  countries  which  were  situated  on  1he 
left  bank  of  the  Rhine,  corresponding  to  Alsace  of  to- 
day, belonged  to  Gaul,  not  the  Germans.  This  river 
was  vastly  broader  then  than  it  is  to-day,  when  it  was 
not  confined  between  dikes,  when  no  bridge  traversed 
it,  and  when  it  was  bordered  by  vast  marshes,  so  con- 
stituting a  barrier  most  difficult  indeed  to  overcome. 
The  Rhine  separates  France  from  Germany  even  as 
the  Channel  does  France  from  England,  the  Pyrenees 
France  from  Spain,  the  Alps  France  from  Italy  and 
Switzerland. 

Thus,  Alsace  in  the  first  instances  of  history,  of 
which  we  have  record,  was  not  a  German  Province. 
The  Germans  only  succeeded  in  implanting  themselves 
there  through  successive  invasions.  As  you  know, 
they  have  always  practised  this  method  of  expansion, 
and  it  is  interesting  to  note  that  Strasbourg,  the  pre- 
tended German  city,  was  historically  and  in  reality 
placed  where  it  is  in  order  to  resist  these  very  inva- 
sions. The  Germans  therefore  pretend  that  their  in- 


vasions  have  Germanized  Alsace.  This  is  true  in  the 
measure  that  the  immigrating  population  mixed  itself 
with  the  aboriginees;  but,  if  what  they  claim  were 
actually  so,  Spain,  where  the  Goths  also  intrenched 
themselves,  at  the  time  of  the  invasion  of  that  country 
by  the  Barbarians,  would  be  also  a  Germanic  country, 
and  so  the  Germans  might  amuse  themselves  in  claim- 
ing all  countries  where  the  races  are  mixed,  not  for- 
getting our  own.  It  is  true  that  they  do  not  limit  them- 
selves in  their  pretensions,  even  in  the  present  case, 
and  there  are  many  of  them  who  claim  not  only  these 
Provinces  of  Alsace  and  Lorraine  but  two-thirds  of 
the  rest  of  France. 

"But,  there  is  the  Language",  they  say.  "Even 
in  the  most  ancient  times  the  German  idiom  was  the 
same  as  that  of  Alsace  and  Lorraine."  \Vhal  a  won- 
derful argument  in  favor  of  the  German  claim! 

Again,  one  must  distinguish  between  the  two  Pro- 
vinces.. In  Lorraine  it  is  conceded  that  the  majority 
of  the  population  still  speak  French.  As  to  what  is 
called  the  "Alsatian  dialect",  it  is  not  a  corruption  of 
German,  but  it  is  a  distinct  dialect  in  which,  long  be- 
fore Alsace  joined  France,  long  before  Louis  XIV, 
there  were  quantities  of  French  words  and  expressions 
— this  from  time  immemorial.  It  had  become  very 
supple  and  had  modelled  itself  after  the  temperament 
of  the  people.  Far  from  being  stilted  and  heavy  as 
German,  it  had,  and  has  the  light  character  and  the 
good  fellowship  of  the  people  who  speak  it,  to  such  an 
extent,  that  to-day,  as  far  as  the  question  of  language 
is  concerned,  instead  of  being  a  bond  between  tbe  two 
people,  between  the  Alsatians  and  the  Germans,  it  only 
makes  greater  the  abyss  which  separates  them.  Ger- 
man is  for  the  Alsatian  a  foreign  language.  Never  do 
two  Alsatians  speak  in  German  to  each  other,  whereas 
they  often  do  in  French.  It  would  be  as  absurd  to 


10 

claim  that  the  Basque  Provinces  were  Spanish,  or  the 
South  of  France  Italian,  because  their  dialects  resemble 
vaguely  the  language  of  these  two  people. 

But,  and  to  finish  with  the  philologic  argument,  I 
do  not  hestitate  to  say  that  it  is  absolutely  of  no  im- 
portance. We  Americans,  who  speak  the  English 
language,  are  better  able  to  sustain  this  opinion  than 
any  other  nation,  for  if  one  is  only  to  consider  lan- 
guage, a  great  portion  of  Canada  should  still  be  French 
as  should  also  much  of  Belgium  and  Switzerland  should 
be  divided  between  Germany,  France  and  Italy.  Our 
own  country  might  be  considered  as  a  dependent  of 
England,  and  so  on  through  the  South  American  Re- 
publics. It  is,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  absurd,  and  it  is 
useless  to  develop  further  this  paradox.  What  is 
more  interesting  by  far  from  our  point  of  view 
is  to  look  to  the  moral  and  material  bonds  exist- 
ing, and,  above  all,  to  what  extent  Alsace  and  Lor- 
raine have  attached  themselves  to  the  two  countries 
which  have  successively  annexed  them.  I  am  not  go- 
ing to  subject  you  to  a  course  of  history,  for  I  am  too 
much  in  a  hurry  to  discuss  happenings  of  which  we 
and  our  fathers  have  been  the  witnesses,  but  it  appears 
indispensable,  in  order  not  to  neglect  any  point  of  view, 
to  rapidly  look  into  .the  past  of  Alsace  and  Lorraine. 


Up  to  1870  Alsace  acted  as  a  bridge  between  France 
and  Germany.  The  Germans  pretend,  to  legitimatize 
their  aggressive  policy,  that  the  annexation  of  Alsace 
by  France  under  Louis  XIV  was  the  tearing  away  of 
this  Province  from  her  veritable  fatherland,  Germany. 
Nothing  is  further  from  the  truth :  The  so-called  father- 
land was  really  not  one  at  that  time;  Germany,  prop- 
erly speaking,  did  not  exist,  or  rather  there  were  many 
Germanys.  She  was  not  called  Germany,  but  "The 
Germanys".  One  might  also  be  able  to  say  "The  Al- 


11 

saces",  because  at  that  epoch  it  was  simply  a  geograph- 
ical expression.  It  was  composed  of  hundreds  of 
small  feudal  states,  of  republics,  such  as  the  Republic 
of  Mulhouse,  of  free  cities,  such  as  Strasbourg.  These 
were  all  renowned  for  their  spirit  of  independence  and 
love  of  personal  freedom.  This  spirit  was  due  to  their 
Celtic  origin,  which  also  explains  the  great  enthusiasm 
with  which  the  French  Republic  was  received  later  in 
Alsace.  It  was  France  who  definitely  fixed  her  bound- 
aries. She  made  of  it  a  French  territory  just  as  she 
did  other  provinces  which  became  French  at  the  same 
time  and  which  have  always  remained  so. 

But  France  brought  to  Alsace  other  things  than  a 
simple  frontier.  She  brought  to  it  the  Order,  the  Lib- 
erty and  the  Prosperity  which  have  reigned  there  for 
two  centuries.  In  incorporating  herself  in  France  Al- 
sace acquired  a  unity  which  she  had  always  lacked. 
One  can  also  say  that  she  acquired  a  soul.  Could  this 
soul  be  otherwise  than  French?  One  would  be  tempted 
to  believe  that  Louis  XIV,  the  most  absolute  monarch 
of  Europe,  would  have  imposed  upon  the  new  Province 
a  very  rigid  and  tyrannical  domination,  but  it  was 
exactly  the  opposite  which  came  to  pass.  The  French 
administration  gave  her  Justice  and  Tolerance,  even 
in  religious  matters,  and  left  her  absolutely  free  as  to 
her  local  government.  If  by  any  chance,  you  have 
ever  heard,  that  a  flock  of  foreign  functionaries  fell 
upon  Alsace,  it  was  not  under  the  reign  of  Louis  XIV 
that  this  invasion  took  place,  but  under  the  reign  of 
the  Hohenzollens,  when  45,000  of  them  encamped  upon 
the  unhappy  country. 

The  liberalism  of  the  French  regime  soon  bore  fruit, 
for  in  1709  the  Baron  Schmettau,  the  Prussian  Ambass- 
ador to  the  court  of  France,  said  in  one  of  his  des- 
patches: "It  is  notorious  that  the  inhabitants  of  Alsace 
are  more  French  than  the  Parisians  themselves,  and  the 


12 

King  of  France  is  so  sure  of  their  devotion  to  his  serv- 
ice, and  to  his  glory,  that  he  has  ordered  them  to  fur- 
nish themselves  with  guns,  swords,  halberds  and  pistols 
— with  powder  and  lead — every  time  that  there  is  a 
rumor  that  the  Germans  are  thinking  of  crossing  the 
Rhine — and  they  precipitate  themselves  in  crowds  to 
the  banks  of  this  river  to  stop  any  such  project,  or  at 
least  to  dispute  the  attempt  of  the  German  nation,  this 
at  the  evident  peril  of  their  lives  and  as  if  they  were 
going  to  a  triumph!  *  *  *  If  the  Alsatians  were 
separated  from  the  King  of  France,  whom  they  adore, 
the  only  way  their  hearts  could  be  torn  from  him  would 
be  by  a  chain  of  two  hundred  years." 

This  good  will  towards  the  new  country  became 
only  the  stronger  during  the  eighteenth  century.  Al- 
sace had  at  last  become  an  actual  Province  in  becom- 
ing French  and  one  may  say  that  by  becoming  French 
she  became  Alsace.  In  half  a  century  the  population 
almost  tripled.  Agriculture,  commerce  and  industry 
were  in  full  prosperity,  as  were  also  the  sciences,  litera- 
ture and  the  fine  arts.  Also  a  gradual  development  to- 
wards the  principles  and  love  for  Freedom  and  Liberty 
took  place.  On  the  eve  of  the  great  Revolution  in  1789 
French  was  understood  in  the  most  remote  villages  and 
spoken  by  almost  everybody.  The  popular  tongue  was 
not  German,  but  the  distinct  Alsatian  dialect  as  exist- 
ing to-day.  This  cannot  be  repeated  too  often. 

Alsace,  it  must  not  be  forgotten  and  it  is  a  very  im- 
portant point,  was,  and  is  of  an  instinct  profoundly 
Democratic.  Nowhere  was  the  French  Revolution  re- 
ceived with  greater  joy.  One  must  read  the  works  of 
(his  period  to  understand  the  enthusiasm  which  moved 
all  Alsatians.  It  was  at  Strassburg  that  was  heard  for 
the  first  time  the  wonderful  hymn  of  the  army  of  the 
Rhine  and  that  has  become  immortalized  in  the  Marseil- 
laise. The  Revolution  cemented  definitely  the  incorpo- 


13 

ration  of  Alsace  in  France,  and  from  this  moment  the 
history  of  Aslace  is  one  with  that  of  France.  I  will  only 
draw  your  attention  in  this  regard  to  the  extraordinary 
and  glorious  part  which  the  French  of  Metz,  of  Phals- 
bourg,  of  Strasbourg  and  of  Mulhouse  took  in  the  Na- 
poleonic wars.  Twenty-eight  names  of  Alsatian  Gen- 
erals are  inscribed  on  the  Arch  of  Triumph  in  Paris: 
Kellerman,  Kleber,  Rapp,  Lefevre  and  many  others. 
It  is  important  to  remember  that  at  the  moment 
when  Germany  began  to  talk,  in  the  second  part  of  ths 
last  century,  of  a  Germanic  tendency  as  existing  in  Al- 
sace and  Lorraine,  these  two  Provinces  had  been  living 
for  two  hundred  years  in  full  prosperity  and  perfect 
communion,  as  regards  interest  and  feeling,  with 
France,  and  without  ever  once  having,  note  this  well, 
made  a  protestation  against  the  beloved  country,  which 
they  had  adopted  for  always. 

This  was  the  state  of  things  which  existed  when  the 
Franco-German  War  of  1870  was  declared.  During  this 
bloody  campaign  Alsace  and  Lorraine  gave  a  splendid 
example  of  ardor  and  patriotism.  More  than  one  hun- 
dred thousand  of  their  sons  fought  on  the  side  of 
France,  and,  we  should  remark  particularly  the  en- 
durance and  enthusiasm  of  the  inhabitants  of  Stras- 
bourg during  the  siege  of  that  town,  which  forced  even 
the  conquerors  tnemselves  to  express  their  admiration, 
However,  disorganized  as  everything  was  in  France  at 
that  moment  by  the  Imperial  reign,  abandoned  by  the 
other  nations  of  Europe,  France  had  to  accept  the  con- 
ditions imposed  by  Prussia :  that  is  to  say,  the  annex- 
ation of  these  two  Provinces.  EIGHT  WAS  SACRI- 
FICED TO  FORCE.  A  moment  ago  I  cited  the 
declaration  read  at  the  National  Assembly  of  Bor- 
deaux on  the  17th  of  February,  1871,  where  all  the 
Deputies  of  Alsace  and  Lorraine  affirmed  their  ab- 


14 

solute  will,  and  that  of  their  electors,  to  remain  French. 
This  manifestation  was  renewed  at  the  sitting  on  the 
first  of  March,  immediately  after  the  ratification  of 
the  preliminaries  for  Peace.  Here  is  the  text  of  this 
wonderful  document: 

"The  representatives  of  Alsace  and  Lorraine  pre- 
sented, before  any  negotiation  for  Peace  took  place,  to 
the  National  Assembly,  a  declaration  affirming,  in  the 
most  positive  terms,  in  the  name  of  these  Provinces, 
their  Will  and  their  Bight  to  remain  French. 

"  Abandoned  in  spite  of  all  Justice  and  by  an  odius 
abuse  of  Force  to  the  domination  of  the  foreigner,  we 
have  a  last  duty  to  fulfill. 

4  *  We  declare  null  and  void  a  pact  which  disposes  of 
us  without  our  consent. 

"The  revindication  of  our  rights  will  remain  al- 
ways open  to  each  and  every  one  of  us,  in  the  form  and 
in  the  measure  which  our  conscience  shall  dictate  to  us. 

"At  the  moment  of  leaving  this  Assembly,  where 
our  dignity  no  longer  permits  us  to  remain,  and  in 
spite  of  the  bitterness  of  our  sorrow,  the  supreme 
thought  which  fills  our  hearts  is  one  of  gratitude  to 
those  who  for  six  months  have  not  ceased  to  defend 
UB,  and  to  express  our  undying  attachment  to  the  Coun- 
try from  which  we  are  torn  by  violence. 

"OUB  VOWS  AND  OUB  HOPES  WILL  FOL- 
LOW YOU,  AND  WE  WILL  WAIT  WITH  SU- 
PBEME  CONFIDENCE  THE  FUTUBE  WHEN 
FBANCE  BEGENEBATED  WILL  ONCE  AGAIN 
FOLLOW  THE  GLOBIOUS  TBEND  OF  HEB 
DESTINY. 

"YOUB  BBOTHEBS  OF  ALSACE  AND  LOB- 
BAINE,  TOBN  IN  THIS  MOMENT  FBOM  THE 
COMMON  FAMILY,  WILL  KEEP  FOB  FBANCE 
ABSENT,  A  FILIAL  AFFECTION  UNTIL  THE 
DAY  WHEN  SHE  WILL  AGAIN  BETAKE  HEB 
PLACE." 


15 

Was  this  merely  a  formal  protestation?  The  tone 
of  the  document  and  the  feeling  which  runs  through 
it,  suffice  to  put  aside  such  an  objection;  but  thin 
is  not  all,  the  unhappy  Country  soon  found  another 
occasion,  and  even  a  more  solemn  one  to  make  its 
Voice  and  Will  once  again  heard.  This  was  in  Feb- 
ruary, 1874,  not  in  France  but  in  the  Reichstag  at  Ber- 
lin, through  the  voice  of  the  fifteen  Deputies  who  were 
sent  by  these  Provinces  to  the  chamber  of  the  Empire. 
The  Deputy  of  Saverne,  speaking  in  the  collective 
name,  commenced  by  saying  that  the  speech  which  he 
was  about  to  make  was  A  TRANSLATION  OF  ON  1C 
FROM  FRENCH  INTO  GERMAN,  GERMAN  NOT 
BEING  HIS  MOTHER  TONGUE.  "It  was  at  the 
end  of  the  nineteenth  century,"  said  he,  "a  century 
of  light  and  progress,  that  Germany  conquered  us, 
and  the  People  whom  she  has  reduced  to  a  state  of 
slavery,  (because  the  annexation  without  our  consent 
constituted  a  veritable  state  of  moral  slavery,)  this 
People  is  one  of  the  best  of  Europe,  the  one  which 
carries  highest  the  Belief  in  Right  and  the  Love  of 
one's  Country"  and  the  orator  finished  thus:  "OUR 
REASONING  FINDS  ITSELF  IN  ACCORDANCE 
WITH  OUR  HEART.  OUR  HEART  IS  IRRESIST- 
IBLY DRAWN  TOWARDS  OUR  COUNTRY, 
FRANCE!  TWO  CENTURIES  OF  LIFE  AND  OF 
THOUGHT  IN  COMMON  HAVE  CREATED  BE- 
TWEEN THE  MEMBERS  OF  THE  SAME  FAMILY 
A  BOND  SO  SACRED,  WHICH  NO  ARGUMENT, 
AND  ABOVE  ALL,  NO  FORCE  IS  ABLE  TO  DE- 
STROY. ' '  This  courageous  speech  provoked  only  deri- 
sion and  laughter.  The  cry  of  distress  of  the  oppressed 
awakened  no  echo  in  virtuous  Germany.  I  forget!  Two 
voices  were  raised :  Two  voices  of  Socialists !  Those  of 
Bebel  and  of  Liebknecht,  the  father  of  the  present  Dep- 
uty, whose  voice  the  actual  Government  is  trying  to 


16 

Hmother ;  and  their  protestation  in  favor  of  Right  vio- 
lated, will  always  remain  an  eternal  honor  to  these  two 
champions  of  Justice  aiid  Liberty! 

Now,  what  should  have  been  the  duty  of  the  citi- 
zens of  Alsace  so  brutally  torn  from  their  country  T 
Ought  they  to  have  fled  from  the  domination  of  the 
despoiler,  abandoning  their  hearthstones  and  their  in- 
terests, thus  leaving  the  place  free  to  the  invader;  or, 
on  the  contrary,  should  they  have  remained  at  their 
post?  Indeed  a  delicate  problem  to  solve — agonizing— 
and,  one  must  acknowledge,  insoluble  from  a  theoretical 
point  of  view.  More  than  half  a  million  amongst  them 
preferred  exile;  the  middle  class,  the  peasants,  the 
workmen,  emigrated,  many  knowing  no  other  language 
Oian  the  Alsatian  dialect!  They  felt  no  hesitancy  in 
abandoning  their  assured  business  or  calling,  and  went 
out  to  search  for  a  new  and  uncertain  situation  in  their 
martyred  mother  country.  Does  this  mean  that  the 
others  surrendered,  in  accepting  the  yoke  of  the  in- 
vader? No!  and  to  prove  it  I  have  just  read  to  you 
the  protestation  which  they  made  at  the  end  of  three 
years  of  slavery.  Everyone  is  forced  to  acknowledge, 
that  those  who  remained,  not  only  accomplished  a  duty 
as  imperative,  as  meritorious,  and  perhaps  even  more 
painful! 

Now  let  us  study  the  attitude  of  Germany  towards 
what  we  may  call  these  "Annexed  Ones",  because  the 
treaty  in  itself  was  by  no  means  a  solution.  The  coun- 
try, which  had  been  torn  from  its  mother  by  Force,  had 
fo  be  morally  conquered.  The  conquerors  at  first 
thought  that  it  would  be  an  easy  thing  to  accomplish, 
but  they  did  not  have  to  wait  long  to  perceive  that  they 
were  hated  and  despised,  and  that  an  abyss  separated 
them  from  the  BROTHERS  ( !)  whom  they  pretended 
to  have  recovered.  What  they  did  not  understand, 


17 

what  they  have  not  yet  arrived  at  understanding,  is 
that  this  abyss  was  destined  to  continually  grow  deeper. 
To  change  the  nationality  of  a  People,  one  must  have  to 
offer  it  an  Ideal,  which  is  superior  to  that  from  which 
it  has  been  torn;  or,  to  the  Ideal  of  Liberty,  of  Justice 
and  of  Right,  which  is  that  of  the  French  Republic,  the 
Germans  had  to  offer  only  the  one  which  has  been 
forced  upon  themselves  by  Prussia  itself,  the  Ideal  of 
Militarism,  of  a  people  who  believe  only  in  Force! 
"Prussia,"  said  Mirabeau,  "is  not  a  People  who  have 
an  Army,  it  is  an  Army  who  have  a  People." 

After  the  first  experiences  of  a  period  of  installa- 
tion, which  lasted  about  ten  years,  and  during  which 
the  Alsatians  were  subjected  to  all  the  terror  of  a  for- 
eign domination,  directed  by  the  Chancellery  in  Berlin, 
Germany,  having  failed  to  morally  impose  herself 
through  terror,  decided  to  attempt  gentleness.  From 
1879  Field  Marshal  Manteuffel  attempted  to  win  it  over 
to  himself  by  a  gentleness,  to  which  even  the  conquered 
themselves  paid  tribute.  However,  even  this  attempt  at 
Germanization,  which  lasted  until  1885,  suffered  a 
severe  check,  as  is  witnessed  by  the  elections,  still  so 
violently  of  the  opposition,  of  1887.  A  short  time  be- 
fore, during  the  Boulangiste  movement,  two  frontier 
incidents  between  France  and  Germany,  had  given 
birth  to  the  hope  in  Alsace  of  a  war  of  de- 
liverance. Nothing  more  was  necessary  to  reduce 
to  naught  tlie  laborious  and  fragile  work  of  Manteuffel. 
The  Germans  appeared  more  stupefied  than  wound- 
ed by  this  manifestation.  They  could  not  imagine,  or 
else  they  refused  to  admit,  that  their  new  vassals  did 
not  feel  honored  at  being  admitted  into  the  German 
family,  so  an  explication  had  to  be  found  permitting 
of  the  inauguration  of  a  new  regime.  Here  was  the  rea- 
soning which  they  offered.  If  Alsace  and  Lorraine 
showed  themselves  so  rebellious  it  was  that  they  were 


18 

terrorized  by  the  French  across  the  border.  The 
only  \vay  to  better  this  condition  was  to  resort 
to  a  terrorization  even  more  violent.  On  that 
ground  Prussia  need  fear  no  competition,  and  so 
began  for  the  two  Provinces  an  era  of  oppression, 
of  continual  threats,  of  expulsions,  of  suppres- 
sion of  journals,  of  dissolution  of  clubs  and  societies, 
of  political  trials,  annoyances  of  every  kind.  A  war 
without  quarter  was  made  upon  everything  that  was 
French,  of  opinions,  of  traditions,  going  so  far  as  to 
suppress  words  and  signs.  Even  French  sur-names 
were  forbidden.  The  French  colors  were  declared  to 
be  seditious,  and  finally  the  difficulties  imposed  by  pass- 
ports, built  up  a  veritable  wall  between  France  and  Al- 
sace-Lorraine. All  power  was  in  the  hands  of  the  func- 
tionaries, imposed  by  the  conquerors,  despotic  and  ar- 
rogant, by  order  as  well  as  by  nature.  It  would  seem 
that  it  was  all  destined  to  justify  the  word  of  Goethe, 
"The  Prussian  is  conceived  cruel.  Civilization  has 
made  him  ferocious."  It  would  seem  plain  that 
it  was  hoped  to  provoke  revolts,  in  order  to  sup- 
press them  in  blood.  This  at  least  was  the  idea  of 
Prince  Hohenloe-Schillingfurst,  the  Governor,  who 
wrote  in  his  memoirs:  "It  would  seem  that  Berlin 
wishes  to  push  the  'Annexed  Ones'  to  desperation  and 
to  open  revolt."  ALSACE  AND  LORRAINE  WERE 
NOT  TREATED  AS  A  RECOVERED  PROVINCE, 
BUT  AS  A  COLONY  WHICH  IT  WAS  NECESSARY 
TO  GERMANIZE.  If  one  looks  into  the  German  way 
of  going  about  it,  and  compares  their  methods  with 
those  of  the  English,  for  example,  either  in  Canada  or 
in  South  Africa,  one  must  acknowledge  that  the  Ger- 
mans are  the  worst  colonizers  imaginable.  ' '  But, ' '  they 
say,  "the  gentle  manner  did  not  succeed,  we  had  no  al- 
ternative left  but  brutality!"  WHAT  BETTER 
PROOF  I  ASK  CAN  ONE  HAVE  THAT  ALSACE 


19 

AND  LORRAINE  WISHED  UNDER  NO  CIRCUM- 
STANCES TO  BE  PART  OF  GERMANY? 

Because  of  all  this  persecution,  open  protestation  on 
the  part  of  Alsace  and  Lorraine  became  impossible.  To 
protest  would  have  been  to  commit  suicide,  and  more- 
over, one  must  not  lose  sight  of  the  fact,  that  Alsace 
and  Lorraine  belonged,  in  spite  of  themselves,  to  a 
great  economical  organization,  with  which,  in  order  to 
survive,  she  was  forced  to  count,  and  so,  for  want  of  a 
better  solution,  she  asked  for  Autonomy.  In  other 
words,  "Alsace  for  the  Alsatians"  became  the  only 
practical  formula  of  protestation.  The  point  to  be  at- 
tained appeared  different,  but  the  inspiration  was  the 
same,  and  it  was  with  reason  that  Deroulede  himself^ 
the  greatest  of  all  French  patriots,  approved  the  tactic: 
what  proves  that  it  was  nothing  but  a  tactic  is  the 
acknowledgment  of  the  Germans,  or  of  those  Alsatians 
allied  to  Germany,  who,  like  Zorn  von  Bulach,  say  that, 
"never  was  the  French  sentiment  throughout  Alsace 
stronger  than  at  this  moment."  So,  in  spite  of  the  re- 
gime of  conciliation  attempted  by  Koeller,  Secretary 
of  State  in  1901,  in  spite  of  the  promise  in  1911  of  a 
Constitution,  which,  as  you  know,  was  but  the  carica- 
ture of  Liberty,  German  "Kultur"  had  made  no  pro- 
gress in  this  so  called  "Land  of  the  Empire."  On  the 
contrary,  the  use  of  the  French  increased  daily,  the 
relations  between  Alsatians  and  Germans  became  more 
and  more  strained,  fewer  and  fewer  intermarriages  oc- 
curred. Nothing  shows  clearer  that  the  idea  of  Auton- 
omy was  not  conducive  to  the  bringing  closer  together 
of  Alsace  and  Germany. 

One  of  the  most  significant  facts  in  this  new  state 
of  things,  or  rather  in  this  persistence  in  clinging  to  the 
French  souvenir,  is  the  mentality  of  the  new  generation, 
which  manifested  itself  at  the  end  of  the  nineteenth 
century.  These  young  people  had  not  known  France. 


20 

They  had  made  their  studies  in  German  schools,  and 
had  done  their  military  service  in  the  imperial  uni- 
form. One  would  have  thought  that  these  newcom- 
ers, who  had  had  no  personal  contact  with  France 
would  be  more  conciliatory,  more  disposed  to  accept 
the  new  status,  while  as  a  matter  of  fact  it  was  all 
the  contrary.  They  were  more  turbulent,  more  ard- 
ently French  than  the  generation  which  went  before. 
Besides  they  had  not  seen  the  war  of  1870,  and  the  pros- 
pect of  another  war  did  not  fill  them  with  the  dread  that 
it  did  older  persons  who  had  participated  in  it,  and  who 
were  ready  to  submit  to  almost  any  amount  of  suffer- 
ing in  the  hope  of  avoiding  the  cataclysm  which  envel- 
opes us  (this  same  trait  I  have  found  in  many  French- 
men even,  of  corresponding  generations)  the  horrors 
of  1870  were  too  vivid  and  they  preferred  almost  any 
concessions  to  the  repetition  of  the  terrors  of  those 
days,  which,  God  knows,  were  as  nothing  in  compari- 
son to  what  the  Germans  are  now  treating  us  to. 

What  greater  proof  can  one  find  for  the  absolute 
failure  of  the  attempt  at  Germanization,  and  is  it  pos- 
sible to  imagine  that  German  policy  should  have  shown 
itself  so  clumsy  and  so  odious?  Resigned  as  Germany 
was  to  the  enmity  of  those  who  were  the  contempora- 
ries of  the  annexation,  she  had  put  all  her  hope  in  these 
young  people,  whom  she  had  educated  and  fashioned 
after  her  own  manner.  Hardly  had  they  arrived  at  the 
age  of  manhood  than  they  turned  their  eyes  towards 
FRANCE  even  more  enthusiastically  than  their  par- 
ents. They  formed  all  kinds  of  clubs  and  federations 
to  perpetuate  the  French  souvenir,  and  what  wonderful 
manifestations  they  displayed,  at  the  ceremonies  of  in- 
auguration of  the  monuments  erected  to  the  soldiers  of 
France,  who  had  fallen  on  the  battlefields  of  Noisseville 
and  of  Wissembourg,  in  1870.  All  this  tension  had 
worked  everybody  up  to  a  state  of  nervousness,  which 


21 

gave  on  one  side  and  on  the  other,  the  greatest  import- 
ance to  the  smallest  acts.  The  more  the  Germans 
showed  themselves  inflexible  and  vexatious,  the  more 
Alsace  turned  her  eyes  towards  France,  where  in  turn 
the  ever  increasing  menacing  attitude  of  Germany,  pro- 
voked and  excited  a  greater  national  feeling.  I  do  not 
exaggerate  when  I  say,  that  while  the  aggressiveness  of 
Germany  contributed  to  the  closer  union  of  all  parties 
in  France,  the  same  Pan-Germanists  were  also  those 
most  responsible  for  encouraging  and  keeping  alive  the 
French  sentiment  in  Alsace  and  Lorraine ! 

This  tension  in  the  relations  between  the  Germans 
and  the  inhabitants — this  crisis,  was  further  accent 
uated  by  two  events  of  a  very  great  gravity,  namely: 
The  affair  of  Graffenstaden  and  that  of  Saverne.  Graf- 
fenstaden  is  a  very  important  Alsatian  manufacturing 
district,  which  furnished  the  locomotives  of  the  State 
Railways.  One  day  it  was  learned  that  these  Railways 
would  no  longer  give  their  orders  to  this  manufactory, 
thus  menacing  with  ruin  an  establishment  employing 
thousands  of  workmen.  The  object  of  this  was  only  too 
clear.  It  was  to  replace  the  native  workmen  by  im- 
ported German  labor,  only  too  ready  to  take  up  the  af- 
fair. It  ended  by  the  Parliament  taking  action,  but  the 
effect  on  public  opinion  was  none  the  less  deplorable. 

The  incident  at  Saverne  made  even  more  noise  in 
the  World,  and  the  Berlin  polemist,  Maximilien  Har- 
den, was  right  when  he  said  that :  " Lieutenant  Forstner 
was  more  nefarious  to  the  cause  of  Germany  than  all 
the  decrees  and  measures  which  had  been  taken."  This 
young  lieutenant  had  insulted  the  young  recruits  by 
calling  them  "Wackes"  (rowdies),  a  term  of  insult 
which  the  German  immigrants  in  Alsace  were  in  the 
habit  of  using  towards  the  inhabitants.  The  civil  func- 
tionaries attempted  to  take  sides,  but  they  were  violent- 
ly criticized  and  insulted;  the  attitude  of  the  Military 


22 

became  more  and  more  provocative,  going  as  far  as  ar- 
rests and  assaults.  At  a  council  of  war  the  Imperial 
Governor,  and  the  Emperor  himself,  approved  the  con- 
duct of  the  officers.  This  scandal,  which  interested  all 
the  World,  brought  about  a  change  in  the  policy  used 
in  governing  Alsace  and  Lorraine;  Prussia  resolved  to 
redouble  her  measures  against  this  virtually  rebellious 
country,  one  might  even  say,  "enemy  country,"  for  von 
Jagow,  Secretary  of  State,  did  not  fear  to  say,  in  1914, 
THAT,  IN  ALSACE  AND  LORRAINE,  "THE 
GERMANS  MUST  BEHAVE  AS  IF  THEY 
WERE  IN  'ENEMY'S  COUNTRY.'  "  This  in- 
deed is  an  extraordinary  avowal.  It  would  be  impos- 
sible to  acknowledge  in  a  more  startling  manner  the 
absolute  failure  of  an  attempt  at  Germanization,  after 
forty-four  years  of  effort;  and  this  on  the  eve  of  the 
War! 

If  the  German  protestations  were  just,  if  the  coun- 
try really  had  become  Germanized,  if  the  inhabitants 
had,  I  do  not  say  become  happy,  but  simply  resigned  to 
their  lot,  What  should  have  happened  at  the  moment  of 
the  declaration  or  war?  Undoubtedly  a  great  feeling 
of  satisfaction,  on  one  side  and  on  the  other,  the  for- 
getting of  all  enmities  and  of  all  discords,  a 
wave  should  have  lifted  the  whole  Alsatian  people, 
a  great  enthusiasm  for  the  Great  German  fatherland. 
The  reality  was  just  the  opposite.  The  War  broke 
the  last  bonds,  fragile  as  they  were,  which  attached  the 
conquered  'ones  to  their  detested  masters.  Even  those 
who  leaned  most  towards  the  other  way  of  thinking  are 
obliged  to  acknowledge  it.  For  instance,  this  is  the 
way  the  National  Zeitung,  the  German  newspaper 
of  Bale,  writes  in  its  issue  on  the  date  of  the  8th 
of  February,  1915:  "And  so  the  War  with  all  the  events 
that  compose  it,  events  especially  painful  to  the  Alsa- 
tians, has  only  succeeded  in  making  more  profound  the 


23 

abyss  which  in  the  Empire  separates  the  two  elements. 
The  fatal  result  is  that  every  one  turns  more  and  more 
towards  France,  and  this,  even  in  those  circles,  which 
before  the  War,  were  more  or  less  disposed  to  accept 
what  had  become  historical  facts."  In  condemning 
those  who  believe  otherwise,  and  thinking  thus  to  help 
the  Alsatians,  and  to  render  lighter  their  diflicult  situa- 
tion, the  journalist  adds:  "IN  THE  PRESENCE 
OF  THESE  FACTS  ONE  MUST  HAVE  THE 
COURAGE  TO  SPEAK  OPENLY  AND  SQUARE- 
LY THE  TRUTH,  AND  THE  TRUTH  IS,  THAT 
THE  ALSATIAN  PEOPLE,  TAKEN  AS  A 
MASS,  FORGETTING  THE  EXCEPTIONS,  WILL 
RECEIVE  THE  RETURN  TO  FRANCE  AS  A 
DELIVERANCE,  PUTTING  AN  END  TO  A 
SITUATION  WHICH  HAS  BECOME  INTOLER- 
ABLE." 

There  is  the  disinterested  opinion  of  a  neutral,  and 
of  a/neutral  who  cannot  be  suspected  of  antipathy  to- 
wards the  Germans.  But  let  us  go  still  further: 

The  Germans  did  not  wait  for  the  declaration  of  war 
to  take  repressive  measures.  They  had  compiled  ad- 
vance lists  of  the  suspects,  which  they  called  "Black- 
lists. ' '  The  last  days  of  July,  1914,  just  before  the  dec- 
laration of  war,  a  great  number  of  persons  were  arrest- 
ed  and  imprisoned,  regardless  of  age,  of  sex  or  of  social 
category.  Amongst  them  were  doctors,  lawyers,  priests, 
manufacturers,  merchants  and  workmen.  They  were 
reproached  with  only  one  crime,  of  having  sympathy 
towards  France.  Many  of  them,  like  Preiss  and  Hauth, 
Deputies  to  the  German  Reichstag,  two  old  pioneers 
and  patriots,  have  since  died  in  the  German  prisons. 
Others  were  able  to  fly  in  time  and  to  escape  into 
France  to  carry  on  the  fight  against  the  common  enemy. 
Among  the  most  notable  of  these  are  Wetterle,  Weill, 
Blumenthal,  the  Deputies;  Helmer,  Bucher,  the  Chan- 


24 

oine  Collin,  Jean  Spinner,  not  forgetting  Hansy  and 
Zislin,  the  two  great  caricaturists.  Almost  all  have 
volunteered  in  the  French  army.  Need  I  say  that  all 
these  patriots  have  been  accused  of  high  treason,  have 
been  condemned  to  death  and  all  their  goods  confis- 
cated? 

But  how  much  more  lamentable  is  the  situation  of 
those  who  remain  behind — threatened,  condemned, 
spyed  upon,  betrayed — nothing  is  lacking  in  their  re- 
gime of  terror.  The  number  of  persons  who  have  been 
condemned  to  years  and  years  of  prison  is  incalculable, 
for  having  manifested  their  French  sentiments,  or  hav- 
ing made  a  disobliging  reflection  upon  an  impossible 
and  brutal  authority.  The  councils  of  war  content 
themselves  on  the  slightest  indication,  and  without  the 
slightest  hesitancy,  to  exercise  their  severity.  An  allu- 
sion to  the  invasion  of  Belgium  cost  the  Lawyer  Berger 
eight  months  of  imprisonment.  In  July  last,  these 
courts  had  inflicted  upon  the  Alsatians  and  Lorraines, 
thousands  and  thousands  of  years  of  imprisonment,  not 
to  speak  of  vast  sums  in  fines.  One  is  struck  by  the  great 
number  of  women  that  figure  on  the  lists  condemned. 
Always  the  Alsatian  woman  has  been  more  aggressive 
than  the  man  against  the  conqueror,  more  ironic,  less 
respectful,  and  so  it  is  a  great  number  of  women,  noble 
and  middle  class  fill  the  prisons.  It  was  to  one  of  these 
that  a  jailer  said,  seeing  that  she  had  tears  in  her  eyes, 
4 'Do  not  weep,  Madam,  you  will  find  yourself  in  excel- 
lent company.  Our  house  is  the  only  one  in  which  one 
can  speak  French  with  impunity. ' ' 

But  prison  is  not  the  only  punishment  that  is  in- 
flicted. Sentences  of  death  are  without  number.  Who 
will  ever  know  the  number  of  Alsatians  who  have  been 
shot  on  the  charge  of  espionage?  The  Government  has 
forbidden  the  press  to  mention  them,  understanding, 
as  it  does  to-day,  that  the  route  it  has  taken  is  the  false 


one,  AND  THAT  THE  NUMBER  OF  ITS  VIC- 
TIMS IS  THE  MOST  STRIKING  LIE  WHICH 
CAN  BE  GIVEN  TO  ITS  PRETENDED  SUB- 
JECTION OF  THE  COUNTRY.  The  military  au- 
thority has  ceased  to  publish  all  accounts  and  all 
debates.  Now  they  imprison  and  kill  in  the  dark. 

I  regret  that  I  have  not  the  time  to  give  you  the  de- 
tails and  the  motives  for  these  innumerable  condemna- 
tions. They  are  most  suggestive.  IN  ANY  CASE 
I  WANT  TO  SAY  THAT  I  ONLY  MENTION 
FACTS  TRUE  AND  INDISPUTABLE,  SINCE 
THEY  WERE  FURNISHED  BY  THE  GERMANS 
THEMSELVES,  IN  THEIR  ACTS  OF  ACCUSA- 
TION AND  OTHER  JUDICIAL  REPORTS,  RE- 
PRODUCED IN  THEIR  OWN  JOURNALS. 

It  is  from  these  same  German  sources  that  I  am  go- 
ing to  limit  myself  in  my  appreciation  of  the  conduct  of 
the  Alsatian  soldiers  enrolled  in  the  German  armies. 
In  many  official  communications,  the  German  Govern- 
ment has  pretended  that  the  Alsatian  is  happy  to  fight 
on  the  side  of  Germany.  To  show  the  falseness  of  this 
allegation,  it  is  sufficient  to  glance  over  the  published 
lists  of  deserters,  condemned  by  the  councils  of  war. 
Their  numbers  attain  tens  of  thousands.  It  is  also  in- 
teresting to  consider  the  precautions  taken  by  the  Min- 
istry of  War  to  take  away  from  the  western  front  these 
same  Alsatian  subjects,  and  to  remove  them  from  the 
posts  in  the  rear,  where  they  would  be  capable  of  ob- 
serving the  organization  of  the  army,  and  the  military 
measures  taken.  While  they  pretend  that  the  Alsatian 
deserters  are  not  obeying  a  patriotic  sentiment,  but  are 
simply  deserting  in  order  to  escape  military  obliga- 
tions, one  might  contend,  that  if  their  desertion  does 
not  prove  their  love  for  France,  it  establishes  at  least  a 
lack  of  enthusiasm  for  the  German  cause.  But  we  can 
do  better  than  that,  for  two-thirds  of  these  men  who 


26 

risked  their  lives  in  desertion  have  enrolled  themselves 
under  the  tricolor.  I  may  even  add  that  amongst  the 
prisoners  made  by  the  Russians  a  great  number  of  Al- 
satians have  asked  to  be  passed  over  to  France,  where, 
treated  as  French  citizens,  they  have  immediately  vol- 
unteered in  the  army  of  the  Republic  and  have  been 
formed  into  several  battalions  of  Zouaves. 

A  COMPARISON  IN  NUMBERS  AS  TO  THE 
OFFICERS,  WHICH  THE  TWO  PROVINCES 
HAVE  GIVEN  TO  FRANCE  AND  GERMANY 
IN  THE  PRESENT  WAR  IS  VERY  IMPORT- 
ANT. ON  THE  FRENCH  SIDE  TO  SPEAK 
ONLY  OF  THE  GENERALS  IT  SUFFICES  ME 
TO  NAME  THOSE  WHO  HAVE  BECOME  THE 
MOST  POPULAR  IN  FRANCE  SUCH  AS 
MAUD'HUY,  D'URBAL,  MICHELER,  DUB  AIL, 
MANGIN,  HIRSCHAUER,  DE  LARDEMELLE, 
SIBILLE,  LEVI,  LEBLOIS,  HEYMAN,  BLOND- 
IN,  SCHWARTZ  AND  ANDLAUER,  145  SU- 
PERIOR OFFICERS  IN  ALL  AND  OVER  3000 
OFFICERS  ALTOGETHER.  OPPOSITE  THESE 
GLORIOUS  NAMES  WE  FIND  BUT  SIX  AL- 
SATIAN OFFICERS  IN  THE  GERMAN  ARMY, 
ONE  GENERAL  AND  FIVE  OTHERS,  FOUR 
OF  WHOM  ARE  HYBRIDS,  THAT  IS  HALF- 
ALSATIAN  HALF-GERMAN. 


I  now  arrive  at  that  part  of  this  story  which  is  most 
painful,  that  is,  the  conduct  of  the  German  troops  in 
this  country,  which  they  claim  is  a  part  of  the  German 
Empire,  loyal  and  dear  to  all  German  hearts! 

When  the  French  troops  made  their  entry  into  Mul- 
house  on  the  8th  of  August,  1914,  they  were  received  in 
a  triumphal  manner,  which  constituted  an  absolute  de- 


27 

nial  of  the  supposition  that  Alsace  was  Germanized. 
It  is,  therefore,  to  sheer  brutality  that  one  must  attri- 
bute the  behavior  of  the  German  troops  towards  the 
population  when  they  re-took  the  city,  and  also  the  pil- 
lage, the  burning,  and  the  atrocities  committed  at  Sun- 
gau,  Dalhein  and  Sengern.  During  the  night  of  the 
14th-15th  of  August  the  Germans  retreated,  after  their 
check  before  Belfort,  burning  up  the  manufactories  of 
Bourzviler,  massacreing  innocent  civilians,  (some  over 
70  years  old),  and  taking  to  prison  eighty  others  under 
the  pretext  that  the  inhabitants  had  fired  on  the  troops. 
This  is  the  easy  and  prevalent  excuse:  "They  fired  on 
us."  It  is  the  same  that  they  used  at  Louvain  and  in 
how  many  other  localities;  but  it  so  happened  at  Bourz- 
viler, that,  at  an  investigation  held  by  German  authori- 
ties themselves,  it  was  proved  that  the  civilians  had 
made  use  of  no  arms,  and  that  it  was  the  Germans,  who 
in  a  sort  of  panic,  had  fired  on  each  other.  The  civil- 
ians were  liberated  but  in  spite  of  this,  this  false  story 
has  been  circulated,  and  also  postal  cards,  showing  and 
mentioning  that  these  ruins  had  been  caused  by  the 
French  on  the  15th  of  August,  1914,  when,  as  a  matter 
of  fact,  they  only  entered  on  the  19th.  The  same  pro- 
cedure has  been  followed  in  many  places,  as  for  in- 
stance, in  Sengern,  where  the  Mayor  refused  to  attest 
that  the  ruins  had  been  caused  by  the  French,  neverthe- 
less, an  ordinance  was  passed,  menacing  with  five  years 
in  prison,  anyone  contending  that  the  Germans  were  re- 
sponsible for  the  destructions.  There  are  many  other 
abominable  atrocities  which  I  might  cite.  Certain  ones 
it  is  hard  to  control,  and  moreover  for  the  greater  num- 
ber, one  would  risk  to  expose  innocent  inhabitants  to 
further  reprisals.  This  requisitory  must  be  left  to  fu- 
ture historians.  What  it  is  possible  say  to-day,  is 
simply,  that  the  Germans  conducted  themselves  in 
Alsace  and  Lorraine  as  if  they  were  in  a  veritable  "en- 


28 

emy's  country,"  as  they  behaved  in  Belgium  and  in 
northern  France,  and  which  I  have  witnessed.  Their 
conduct  would  seem  to  agree  with  the  words  of  William 
II  after  the  taking  of  Thann  by  the  French  troops,  "If  I 
must  give  back  Alsace  to  France  I  will  give  her  back 
as  bald  as  an  egg."  This  remark  was  repeated  by  a 
journalist  to  a  citizen  of  Strasburg  who  replied:  "Well, 
perish  Alsace,  and  long  live  France!" 

And  so,  after  having  for  forty-five  years  vainly  at- 
tempted to  gain  by  persuasion,  or  after  having  subject- 
ed them  to  all  manner  of  vexations,  of  injustices,  and 
of  outrages,  this  is  the  way  the  Germans  treat  to-day 
those  whom  they  have  wished  to  reclaim  as  their 
BROTHERS  (!)  The  response  to  it  all  is  too  easy! 
IF  THE  ALSATIANS,  IN  SPITE  OF  THE  BAD 
TREATMENT  HAVE  BECOME  SUCH  GOOD 
GERMANS,  WHY  DO  THEY  STILL  CONTINUE 
TO  MARTYRIZE  THEM? 

I  know  that  a  certain  number  of  conciliating  but 
misinformed  persons,  in  neutral  countries,  propose 
a  solution  for  this  agonizing  problem  with  which  we 
are  occupied.  When  I  say,  a  solution,  I  should  say  two, 
because  if  some  are  partisans  of  Autonomy  and 
would  like  to  see  Alsace  and  Lorraine  form  an  inde- 
pendent state,  others,  perhaps  more  numerous  still,  lean 
towards  a  Plebiscite,  which  would  permit  the  Alsatians 
and  Lorraines  to  decide  for  themselves,  to  which 
country  they  wished  to  be  definitely  attached. 
These  two  propositions,  which  appear  at  first  sight 
seductive,  do  not  resist  a  serious  examination  and  are 
objected  to  by  the  Alsatians  and  Lorraines  themselves. 
A  Plebiscite!  Did  they  give  one  in  1871!  No!  The 
Germans  were  very  careful  not  to  do  such  a  thing.  They 
knew  too  well  what  would  be  the  result.  As  a  matter  of 
fact,  if  one  looks  at  it  from  a  practical  point  of  view, 
such  an  undertaking  would  find  insurmountable  diffi- 


29 

culties.  For  instance,  what  guarantee  of  impartiality 
would  offer  a  vote  authorized  under  German  surveil- 
lance and  menace.  It  would  be  impossible  to  prevent 
official  pressure.  How  would  it  be  possible  to  allow  a 
vote  to  the  innumerable  Alsatians  who  have  fled  from 
German  domination,  and  from  whom  it  would  be  in- 
iquitous to  withhold  it?  And,  above  all,  how  would 
it  be  possible  to  exclude  the  hundreds  of  thousands  of 
Germans  who  have  and  would  immigrate,  and  whose 
vote  leaves  no  doubt?  Plebiscite  under  these  conditions 
would  be  absolutely  incomplete  and  false. 

And,  after  all,  is  it  not  a  fact  that  Alsace  and  Lor- 
raine have  already  expressed  their  wish  in  the  three 
instances  which  I  have  cited,  and  under  the  most  solemn 
conditions?  Twice  in  the  National  Assembly  at  Bor- 
deaux, and  then  in  the  Reichstag!  I  have  read  to  you 
these  declarations.  The  Country  then  pronounced  it- 
self in  all  Liberty  through  the  voice  of  its  Deputies.  Is 
it  possible  to  pretend  that  the  sentiment  of  the  popula- 
tion has  changed?  WHAT  IS  NECESSARY  IS 
THAT  RIGHT  SHOULD  BE  REINSTATED! 
RIGHT,  WHICH  HAS  BEEN  WRONGED  BY 
THE  VIOLENCE  DONE  ALSACE  AND  LOR- 
RAINE IN  1870!  IT  IS  IMPOSSIBLE  TO  ES- 
TABLISH RIGHT  BY  A  PLEBISCITE.  IT  IS 
ONLY  POSSIBLE  TO  RESTORE  IT  BY  THE 
REESTABLISHMENT  OF  THE  CONDITIONS 
WHICH  EXISTED  BEFORE  THE  VIOLATION. 

And  so  the  only  solution  which  is  left  is  that  of  Au- 
tonomy, which  would  consist  of  the  making  of  Alsace 
and  Lorraine  a  ' '  Buffer  State. ' '  Never  would  this  term 
of  "Buffer  State"  have  been  applied  more  properly. 
Consider  the  problem  solved  in  this  way  and  try  for 
yourselves  to  imagine  the  conflicts,  not  to  say  combats, 
which  would  result,  and  what  menace  would  continually 
be  the  lot  of  the  Alsatian  on  both  his  frontiers.  It  would 


30 

simply  amount  to  creating  a  new  source  of  envy  and  of 
conflict,  which  would  prolong  in  Europe  the  warlike 
atmosphere.  No!  Autonomy  at  a  certain  moment  ap- 
peared possible,  as  I  have  shown  you,  because  it  was 
the  only  solution,  which  presented  itself,  to  those 
who  were  still  protesting  against  their  annexation,  and 
whose  voices  were  smothered.  To-day  the  true  patriots 
of  Alsace  and  Lorraine  rebel  against  any  such  idea; 
the  Abbe  Wetterle,  when  he  was  questioned  on  the  sub- 
ject said  with  a  certain  sense  of  humor:  "If  ever  such 
a  thing  were  to  happen,  Alsace  and  Lorraine  would 
have  nothing  to  do  but  to  declare  war  against  France 
and  in  this  way  annexation  would  be  unavoidable." 

No,  neither  Plebiscite  nor  Autonomy  can  possibly 
solve  the  problem.  We  must  waive  all  solutions  which 
are  not  absolutely  frank!  BY  THE  DECLARA- 
TION OF  WAR  GERMANY  HAS  TORN  UP  THE 
TREATY  OF  FRANKFORT.  ALSACE  AND 
LORRAINE  WERE  TIED  TO  GERMANY  ONLY 
BY  THIS  TREATY,  I  DO  NOT  SAY,  BY  THIS 
" SCRAP  OF  PAPER,"  FROM  NOW  ON  NOTH- 
ING IN  THEIR  TRADITIONS,  OR  THEIR  IN- 
TERESTS, OR  THEIR  SYMPATHIES,  HOLDS 
THEM  ANY  LONGER  TO  THE  IMPERIALIS- 
TIC AND  TYRRANIC  NATION  UNDER  WHOSE 
YOKE  THEY  HAVE  SUFFERED  FOR  AL- 
MOST HALF  A  CENTURY.  EVERYTHING  ON 
THE  CONTRARY  DRAWS  THEM  INVINCIBLY 
TOWARDS  DEMOCRATIC  FRANCE.  RE- 
TURNED TO  THE  BREAST  OF  THEIR 
MOTHER  COUNTRY  ,  THEY  WILL  FIND  THE 
NORMAL  LIFE  TO  WHICH  THEY  HAVE 
ASPIRED  SO  LONG.  THIS  IS  THE  ONLY 
SOLUTION,  THE  ONLY  ONE  WHICH  GIVES 
SATISFACTION,  LOGICALLY  AND  IN  ALL 
JUSTICE,  AND  WHICH  IN  THE  FUTURE 


31 

WILL    GUARANTEE    THE    PEACE    OF    THE 
WORLD. 

BUT  LET  US  GO  FURTHER  EVEN  THAN 
THIS  QUESTION  OF  ALSACE  AND  LORRAINE, 
AND  LET  US  REMEMBER,  THAT  THE  FU- 
TURE PEACE  OF  THE  WORLD,  OF  AMER- 
ICA  ITSELF,  WILL  NOT  BE  ASSURED,  IF 
THE  WAR  ENDS,  OTHERWISE  THAN  BY 
THE  RETURN  TO  THEIR  CRADLES,  OF  ALL 
THE  PEOPLES  WHO  HAVE  BEEN  ROBBED 
FROM  THEIR  MOTHER  COUNTRIES,  AND 
THE  INTEGRAL  RESTITUTION  OF  ALL  THE 
THEFTS  COMMITTED  BY  GERMANY  AND 
AUSTRIA  IN  THE  LAST  CENTURY,  OF  PO- 
LAND, OF  SCHLESWIG-HOLSTEIN,  OF  TRIEST 
AND  THE  TRENT,  OF  ALSACE,  OF  LOR- 
RAINE, OF  HERZEGOVINIA  AND  OF  BOSNIA. 

The  other  day,  at  twilight,  from  the  trenches  of  the 
Hartmannwielkopf  while  gazing  in  the  distance  towards 
Colmar,  beyond  the  enemy's  lines,  the  officer  with  whom 
I  was,  an  Alsatian  of  that  very  town,  said  to  me  in  very 
excellent  English —  "Ah,  the  joy  of  being  here,  the 
privilege  for  which  I  have  always  prayed  God.  To 
fight  for  the  liberation  of  all  that  is  most  sacred  to  Man, 
for  one's  Soil,  one's  Family,  one's  Ideals.  To  liberate  I 
Sometimes' it  seems  long  but  we  have  the  Faith  that 
never  fails."  And  pointing  to  a  wondeTfully  bright 
star  in  the  direction  of  Colmar  he  added  very  simply, 
"At  night,  here  in  the  trenches,  when  I  feel  a  little  dis- 
couraged with  the  waiting,  do  you  know  the  prayer  I 
offer  the  most  often: 

'Lead  kindly  light,  lead  Thou  me  on 

The  way  is  dark  and  I  am  far  from  home 

Lead  Thou  me  on. ' 

The  verses  are  by  Newman,  you  know.    I  am  very  fond 
of  them!'' 


University  of  California 

N  REGI°NAL  LI°"ARY  FAC.L.TY 
Avenue,  Los  Angeles,  CA  90024  1388 
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